Aunt Virginia, Uncle Tony
by JesusFreakForever1
Summary: Pepper Potts has a sister who lives in South Africa. The last time she saw her niece was when the girl was seven. So when her sister dies and Simone van der Westhuisen comes to live with her and her new husband, Tony Stark, will they cope? Will Tony cope? Will they get over the culture shock and get along?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey Guys! Here is the first chapter! I dooo not oowwn anyythiiinggg (Mandarin voice, haha) besides my own characters and the plot.**

Simone sat as still as a statue on the stool in the middle of the empty room, twirling her thumbs around each other, watching them, fascinated. She let her moving thumbs occupy her brain in favour of the worrying thoughts of her mother's safety that kept wanting to barge into her head. She couldn't help it. She always worried when her mother went to Joburg. It was not as if the roads in South Africa were extremely safe, especially not the N1, or the R59, or any freeway or highway for that matter. The taxi's just made it worse, especially the Jozi Supa Sixteens, they would just run over you. Well, unless you had a Jeep, or a Land Rover, or a Toyota Fortuner, well, anything Hilux-sized and bigger would keep the Taxi's at a safe distance.

Simone chuckled at the thought, when she still lived in Joburg, she had a friend named Karina. Now, this Karina's mother owned a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which looked quite intimidating. It was quite hilarious to see the obnoxious Taxi-Combis literally almost run off the road to make room for the huge, white monster of a 4x4. Karina's father had raised the suspension a few centimetres and added huge, scary offroad tyres which just added to the intimidation factor. Needless to say, after he had made the modifications _all _the traffic made way for the Jeep.

She couldn't stop worrying, her mother, Elizabeth van der Westhuisen (nee Potts) said that she was so much like her aunt in that matter. Apparently Aunt Virginia worried an awful lot, especially since she started working for some eccentric billionaire/famous person she couldn't care less about. What was his name again? Ah, Tony Stark, or something like that, she couldn't really remember. Apparently they got married now, or so her mother told her. Her mother was absolutely ecstatic about the news. Simone was happy for her aunt as well, but it just didn't make sense, if this man made her worry so much, why did she marry him and cause her to worry even more? Well, that was her logic, love was blind. And, what did she know? She was only fourteen.

She tried to remember when she had last seen her aunt, she must have been six or seven. Well, she was in grade 1 so she must have been seven. She liked her aunt, she was nice. They talked a little on Facebook but they never really had a real connection, and the differing time zones made keeping contact difficult for both of them. It did not really matter. They were from two completely different worlds, her aunt from a high-flying business life in California somewhere and she was in a small little town called Fochville just outside of Parys, which was close to Oranjeville, which was close to Heilbron, which was close to Sasolburg, which was close to Vanderbijlpark, which was about an hours drive from Joburg...

In short, she was in a small little town about one or two hours from Joburg, South Africa which went unnoticed by most of the world. She doubted most of the people in California knew South Africa existed, much less a little town in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, most Americans didn't really care about what happened outside their borders. She also heard that they firmly believed that lions ran around in the streets (they didn't really do that unless they won the Currie Cup, and then again it was just a team of big, burly rugby players who call themselves the Lions) and that they rode elephants and zebras to school. Silly. Jordan, one of her friends, told her that when she went to America, they were absolutely astounded that a South African could be white.

Speaking of lions, her pal Reinhart van der Berg told her that the Lions beat the Bulls the other night, which is quite a memorable occurrence because the Lions really can't play and the Bulls can't ever get their arrogant buttocks to lose (guess why she never supported them, always rubbing their victories in your face, and if they lost it was always the ref's fault.) She chuckled, she still had to send Oom Jan Botha, a reverend Bulls supporter, her condolences for his team's absolutely hilarious and humiliating loss.

Her little Nokia buzzed in her pocket, she quickly pulled it out. Tsholofelo. She remembered the day when she asked her what her name meant, Hope, it was. Well, now she hoped (Tsholofelo'd) that this was not bad news. Normally Tsholofelo did not exactly bring bad news, but she never called, she always texted, and that rang alarm bells.

"Sawubona, unjani?" Simone greeted in good humour.

"Haha, really funny darling, dit gaan goed, dankie. En jy?" Came the response.

"Wow, your Afrikaans is really improving, eh,"

Tsholofelo snorted, "Can't say the same for your Zulu, your accent is still horrible and I doubt you have learned anything else besides that phrase,"

Simone gasped in mock shock, "You doubt me so, I actually have learned something else, it is: Umkhumbi wami ugcwele ngenyoka zemanzini,"

"Oh wow, I never knew that you had a hovercraft, much less that it was full of eels," Tsholofelo laughed.

"Yeah, well, Abelo taught me that, so it is to be expected. You can never really trust him, though," Simone defended.

"Yeah..." Tsholofelo drifted off, sounding nervous.

"Hey, Hopeful Chicki, what's wrong?" Simone asked, her chest tightening.

"Its... Its..."

"What?" Simone asked, kinda hoping that Tsholofelo was just going to say that she and Abelo are together again, anything other than what she expected. But it looked like it was just going to be a tearful breakup story or a confession of Tsholofelo getting back with ehm, certain people, ehm.

"It's your mom,"

Or not, "What about her?" Simone asked, growing frantic now. Please. Please let it be that Mom just decided that she can't go to the movies on friday and has to do dishes and Tsholofelo is just upset about that. Please.

Tsholofelo sighed, making Simone's stomach twist even further, "She is dead. She was in a car accident. Oom Albert asked me to tell you. He said you would take it better from me,"

Simone's heart dropped to the floor. This could not be happening. Her chest tightened, and memories came flooding back of her father, who was swept off his motorbike when someone did not stop at a traffic light about two years ago. Her mom was gone. Gone. Forever. Tears began running down her cheeks. First Pappa, now Mommy. She had no family left. Her uncle was mean and he hated her guts. She got up and started running, only semi-consious of her indestructible little Nokia crashing to the floor and Tsholofelo calling out her name. She ran into her bedroom and buried her face into her pillow, sobs racking her thin frame.

She was not sure how long she was crying, but she heard someone jumping through her window and coming to sit on her bed. That person just sat there, rubbing comforting circles on her back. It was a while before that person spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mogweraka," the voice spoke softly.

"I never knew you spoke seSotho," Simone choked.

Tsholofelo let out a nervous chuckle, "Lesetja is teaching me,"

Simone groaned, another potential boyfriend.

Tsholofelo gripped Simone's shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, wrapping her arms around her

"You got any other family besides that horrific uncle of yours?"

Simone stifled a sob, "I have an aunt in California,"

**A/N: There you go! Hope you liked it! In case you wondered, the Taxis in South Africa are a bunch of stolen combi's (or mini-vans) with drunk drivers who do not follow the rules of the road. Avoid them at all costs. (Unless you have a big car) **

**Rugby: Similar to American football, but more violent with no body armour besides a scrum cap and a mouth guard.**

**The Currie Cup: Ultimate Rugby Battle of the Year (Don't miss it!)**

**Tsholofelo: Hope**

**Sayubona, Unjani: Hello, How are you?**

**Dit gaan goed, dankie. En Jy?: It is going well, thanks. And you?**

**Umkhumbi wami ugcwele ngenyoka zemanzini: My hovercraft is full of eels.**

**Mogweraka: My Friend.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, a little look into the world of South Africa! Haha I apologise to the Sotho guys if my Sesotho was incorrect, I was not sure about the word and Mbali was not at hand to help so... Guess what! I used Google! Oh, and that is soooooo reliable. Haha, anyway I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

Pepper sighed as she closed her emails, the long day catching up with her. She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. Phew. _What _a _day_. Tony had been messing around with the Avengers, (that did _not _end well. Tony got a lecture from Fury and she had to release a statement to the press) the board was _nagging_ her for a meeting to be arranged with Tony, and he was currently occupied (ehm, scrubbing the Helicarrier as punishment, ehm) paperwork abounded and now some clever person comes with a ridiculous business proposal which Tony would turn down within the blink of an eye. Wow.

Pepper was actually glad that she was no longer CEO. Tony was built for the job. Even though he hardly took responsibility and she still ran most of it as his PA, it took a lot of stress off her when Tony was in charge. The title of CEO just seemed a magnet for stress, stress she was not built to take. Stress just bounced right off Tony. She could hardly imagine how she would cope with more work than what she had now. She could not understand how she survived her few months as CEO, probably because Natal- no, Natasha was such a great help.

She suddenly wondered how her sister was doing, which was strange, because Elizabeth and her hardly spoke. Not because they hated each other, no, they loved each other to bits, it was just that they were both extremely busy. Elizabeth especially after her husband Willem's death...

She really missed her sister, and her niece. She should really go visit them again and take Tony along. Elizabeth never really met him and it would be kinda sad if Simone never met her uncle. Tony would like her, Simone's a good kid, and rather bright.

Wow. The last time she saw that child was when she was seven, just starting out with school. They chatted a bit on Facebook now and then, about the company and Tsholofelo's shenanigans. She even learned a Zulu word or two. But, apparently, you didn't need to speak Zulu in South Africa, English was just fine, and there was something like eleven official languages in that country.

One of the languages that really fascinated her was Afrikaans. It was a lot like Dutch, but it wasn't. Simone called it lazy Dutch, which it was. It was just an easier dialect of Dutch that developed into a written language. It was actually quite beautiful to listen to, Simone read a chapter of _Trompie _to her over video chat once. The r's were really drawn out.

Simone. That child was so much like Elizabeth in many ways, but then Elizabeth insisted that Simone and Pepper were exactly the same person. Apparently Simone had the capacity to stress an awful lot. Pepper smiled. Elizabeth worried a lot too, she just didn't see it.

Pepper looked at her watch, it was already past four in the afternoon, and she wanted to go home early today. She gathered up her folders neatly, tucked them under her arm and purposefully strode out of the office.

Giving the folders to the correct recipient, she sat down in the lounge on the first floor and whipped out her phone to call Happy to pick her up. Just as she opened her phone an email came through.

Pepper sighed. Then decided to quickly check if it was business related or not. She opened it, and her heart stopped when she saw the sender.

Albert van der Westhuisen. Her sister's brother-in-law. He never sent her emails. This could only mean bad news. Sighing deeply, she began to read.

_Dear Virginia Potts,_

_I do regret to inform you that your sister, Elizabeth Anne van der Westhuisen, was killed in a motor accident yesterday afternoon. I am sorry for your loss. However, her daughter, Simone van der Westhuisen is now an orphan, and you were appointed as her godmother. The lawyers request that you inform them of your decision to keep her or allow her to my custody. They have given you a week to decide._

_Sincerely,_

_Albert van der Westhuisen_

Pepper's eyes blurred with tears. Lizzie. Lizzie of all people. Gone. Forever. Her sister. She let the tears trickle down her cheeks as the realisation set in.

Simone. How was she? Was she in the accident? How was she taking this? Was she staying with friends for the moment? Was she with her uncle? Ugh. She hated that man. He was horrible. She would never allow Simone to be in his custody. No. She was coming here.

Pepper swallowed her tears and began to punch in Happy's number.

"Mrs. Stark?"

"Hey Happy, could you pick me up? I am off," Pepper replied, flinching at how teary her voice was.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just come pick me up, okay?"

"Sure thing, I'll be there,"

"Thanks," Pepper put the phone down and sighed, forcing her tears back for the moment. Just then her phone beeped. Facebook notification. Simone van der Westhuisen has updated her status.

_So stil in die donker ure van die nag, ek droom dat jy die oggend by my sal staan, dat niks van die is waar._

Pepper could not understand the words, but she understood the heart. She understood the sadness. The hopelessness. She could understand some of the words, like nag, it was night, and it was dark, and something about wishing it was not true.

Happy pulled the Bentley outside the door. Pepper grabbed her things and walked towards the car, holding back her tears. She was strong.

She was not going to let Simone go.

**A/N: There you go! Hope you enjoyed it! Albert is horrible. Such an unfeeling email. My apologies, I do not have experience with what happens to you when your parents die, fortunately. **

**The little status update of Simone: So quiet in the dark of the night. I dream that in the morning you will stand by my side, that none of this is true**

**:(**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! I am back! Ugh. I watched Oblivion the other day, and it was, uh, weird. Clones and drones and ugh. Strange. Anyway, hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

Simone woke up with a moan, a headache almost splitting her head in half. Probably from the crying. She cried almost non-stop that night, with Tsholofelo's mother comforting her all along. She must have drifted off to sleep at some point, hence her waking up (hint hint).

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She paused at voices outside the door.

"No. No. No. She is staying here, you can forget it,"

Murmuring, a male voice.

"Give me her email address,"

More murmuring.

"She is the sister of your brother's wife. You have her email address, and you have sent her an email. Give me her address,"

More murmuring, a bit angrier this this time.

An exasperated sigh, "Give me the bliksemse address! No. Albert. Van. Der. West. Huisen. She is staying _right here_! No!"

Simone cringed. Yay! Oom Albert is here to mess up her day. Wonderful.

Murmuring, again. Sheesh, why couldn't this creep just speak up?

"Out! Now! No! Get. Out. of. my. house!" Tsholofelo's mother shrieked.

"No. Give me the girl."

Ugh. At least he had a voice now. But, guess what? She would kick and scream and bite before she would let Albert drag her out of this house.

"Yoliswa darling, is there a problem? Is he bothering you?" Tsholofelo's father threateningly cooed in his deep voice as he walked into the hallway.

Simone stifled a chuckle. Mr. Tshabalala was a big, intimidating guy. It was just a coincidence that he had an uncanny love for body-building. No doubt he would scare Albert away.

Yoliswa breathed a sigh in relief, "Yes, Aaron, he will not leave me alone. Please let him know that Simone will _not _be accompanying him back to his home and that I also require her aunt's email address to confirm her custody of Simone,"

A few moments of silence. Simone giggled a little, Mr. Tshabalala was most probably giving Albert the hairy eyeball. A few rustlings of paper. Murmurings. A rushed goodbye. Retreating feet. A door opening and closing. Silence.

Simone released a breath she did not know she was holding. Slowly she lifted the covers off the bed she was sleeping on and swung her legs over the side. Just then the door flew open and Tsholofelo came storming in, giggling for all she was worth. Before she knew it Simone was flung back onto the bed with an overly-excited Tsholofelo giggling into her shoulder.

After a while Simone managed to detangle herself, giggling in sync with her friend. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she spoke up,

"_What _is _wrong _with _you_?" Simone giggled.

Tsholofelo just erupted into another fit of laughter, "His face! His _face_! Y-you should have seen the _look _he _had _on his bedonnerse _face_!" Tsholofelo gasped between breaths, laughs intensifying each time she tried to control them, tears of mirth streaming down her face.

Simone patiently waited for the laughs to subside, which was futile because it looked like Tsholofelo had a serious case of the giggles.

Simone began laughing at her friend when Tsholofelo began to clutch her stomach, since her stomach muscles were aching from the exertion.

"More sit-ups for you, darling," Simone smirked. This just earned another bout of laughter.

The door creaked eerily on its hinges and Tsholofelo's mother poked her head in, "Can I come in?" she asked shyly.

Simone nodded her agreement. Yoliswa quietly strode into the room, closing the door behind her. Looking at her daughter her ever-serious face broke into a slight smile, "What does she find so funny?"

Simone giggled, "Albert's face," she stated simply.

Yoliswa nodded, smile breaking into a grin for a small moment. She moved towards the bed, scooting her still-giggling daughter over, she sat next to Simone.

"I emailed your aunt. I got a prompt reply. She was really surprised that no action was initiated on her email to Albert that she would be taking you, and she was pretty relieved when I contacted her. Apparently things are moving far too slow for her husband and he has his own lawyers contacting yours. He wants to make sure that you don't fall into the wrong hands. She said that he hates Albert with a vengeance after what she told him about him, and he does not want to take any risks. It looks like you will be moving there by the end of the week, but, counting on your uncle Stark and his long arms it could be sooner," Yoliswa related.

Simone nodded. It was good to know. Good to know that not only did her aunt care for her, her aunt's husband, a man she never met, cared about her as well. She might have misjudged him, he looked like a nice guy. Well, he had to be a nice guy for _Aunt Virginia _to marry him. She suddenly felt secure, certain, like this might just have a happy ending.

Tsholofelo finally stopped giggling and sat up, albeit shakily, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

"Wha- what was that? I kinda missed that,"

Yoliswa patiently started explaining again, and Simone shakily stood up, heading to the kitchen.

"I need to think,"

Yoliswa nodded in understanding, still patiently explaining what she had just said to Tsholofelo.

Simone felt better than she had in the past two days. Yes, she still missed her mother, but it felt like there was closure. It was all so sudden. In a few days she would be moving to America to live with an aunt that adored her instead of an uncle who hated her. But she was still unsure. She was leaving all her friends. But, apparently her aunt's husband was a billionaire so visiting would not be a problem, right? And, she would be able to meet Grandma Potts, that was a plus point, right?

Still, she wanted her mother's funeral in Fochville, in that little church on the corner.

She was sure Aunt Virginia wouldn't mind.

**A/N: There you go! Please do not get used to this I usually do not update so quickly, this chapter was special...**

**Bliksemse and Bedonnerse: I apologise for my language, these are not very nice words...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I. am. Back! WOOOOOTTT! haha woooow our class got into sooooooo much trouble today! :P Anyways... Enjoy the chappie!**

Tony flipped up the face of his welding helmet, bright light from the welding iron fading. He ripped the helmet off and threw it on his desk where he was working. Sighing, he lay back in his chair, raking his fingers through is unruly hair. Dummy nudged his side, whirring questioningly. Without thinking, Tony traced circles on the little robot's arm, the movement comforting him a little.

It had been three days since Pepper had came home crying about her sister. Tony comforted her all he could, making her her favourite green tea and holding her until the tears subsided. He shed a few tears too, which was funny, because he never knew the woman, but he was crying for Pepper's sake.

After at least an hour of crying, Pepper had perked up, a look of determination on her face which clearly meant that she wanted Tony to listen and understand. Tony had purposed to, but nothing prepared him for what she had said.

She had a niece, a good girl, she said. A smart girl, she said. A girl who was now and orphan and in danger of falling into her evil uncle's custody.

Tony had asked about this uncle of his mysterious niece.

He did not like what he had heard.

Apparently the man had basically boycotted his brother for marrying an American woman, and he took out all his hatred on Simone. He was extremely abusive and manipulative and he had a slight (no, major,) alcohol problem which made it all worse. He used people and he did not have a problem with it. He also had a few crimes on his name, one of which was rape, and he did _not _want Pepper's, no, _their _niece falling into that man's hands.

Tony did not wait to take action, while Pepper had replied to the email stating that she would be assuming custody for Simone, which Tony was sure would be futile, he had taken matters into his own hands.

Jarvis contacted all the best lawyers who contacted all the best South African lawyers who contacted Simone's lawyers. He had found out what exactly happened in the accident (or, so was said to have happened, nothing really added up,) and he arranged for Simone to come up to California as soon as she possibly could.

He felt pretty good about himself.

Pepper had come in a day after she heard about her sister stating that she had received an email from the people Simone was staying with and was assured that they fully supported her taking custody of Simone.

Even better.

Today was the day that Simone would be packing her things and getting ready to go to the airport tomorrow to take a private S.I. Jet to Malibu. Happy would be accompanying her and she could bring a friend along for moral support to stick around for a week or two until her mother's funeral was over.

Apparently the girl had great friends, and he was not going to keep them from her, they could visit and skype or whatever as much as they wanted to.

According to Pepper, a certain Tsholofelo was the best friend of them all, and he was pretty sure that she was going to be Simone's supportive shadow.

But Tony was nervous. Even though he was an uncle, he was going to be assuming the role of a dad, and that freaked him out. He had so many character defects, and this girl sounded like she had it all together. He never met her. What if she hated him? What if they never got along? And, worse yet, what if he disappointed Pepper? Pepper had assured him that he wouldn't, and that Simone would really like him, but what if she didn't? He did not want to be another Albert.

Ugh. He was so busy with arranging Simone's arrival that he didn't even get to research the guy.

"Jarvis,"

"Yes sir,"

"Pull up everything you have on Albert van der Westhuisen, will you?"

Pictures and folders and blue holograms flooded the screen behind him, and Tony whirled around.

Wow. There was a lot. Apparently there was a lot more to this guy than what he knew.

Tony enlarged a picture. So that is what he looked like. He looked like a kid with a bad hair day.

The man was tall, skinny and blonde with hair that stood up all over the place, his whole stance portrayed a _huge _ego and an attitude of just-don't-care. Everything about him made Tony want to cringe.

"Jarvis, pull up and narrate everything we don't already know about this guy,"

"Indeed, sir, shall I keep important information in the narration that we already are aware of?"

"Yeah, sure go ahead, just don't sound like a broken record, okay?"

"Albert Cornel van der Westhuisen was born on the 2 September 1985 to Marli and Petrus Cornelius van der Westhuisen. He is the younger brother of Willem Collin van der Westhuisen, father of Simone van der Westhuisen.

Albert lived in Vanderbijlpark most of his childhood and attended D.F. Malherbe primary school and Transvalia High. At the age of 16 he dropped out of school and was suspected of drug and alcohol abuse. At age 17 he bought himself a driver's license from a black market and began working for Sasol after forging his Matric Certificate, or, in our case, High School diploma.

He was involved in drug smuggling and joined a gang at a stage. He was very discreet in keeping these actions a secret from his family, however, his crimes did not go unnoticed, hence them being recorded and me being able to narrate them to you.

He was suspected in many murders, both indirectly and directly and was charged for rape on more than one occasion. My suspicion is that he was somehow involved in Elizabeth Anne van der Westhuisen's death,"

Tony leaned back in his chair, sighing heavily. Wow. He definitely did not want Simone ending up living with this guy. He took another look at the photo. Yep. Definitely not. And the dude's hair was a crime too.

What really caught him was that he might be suspected for Elizabeth's death. It all added up. The faulty report of the car accident. Albert himself contacting Tsholofelo to inform Simone of her mother's death because she may react negatively if he himself contacted her. His sudden avoidance of awnsering Pepper's emails. It made sense.

"Jarvis, find all evidence concerning the murders Albert was suspected him and also analyse Elizabth van der Westhuisen's supposed car accident for similarities and get to the bottom of this. Let me know when you got anything. I got a niece to protect,"

With that, Tony stood and strode purposefully from his lab in search of Pepper. Jarvis already beginning his search.

**A/N: Wow! I, personally, disagree with Tony, I think he will make an awesome uncle, don't you? Ugh. Albert. I just hate him more and more. Don't you just want to squash him?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hellooooooo! Simone is back and so am I! haha I managed to get a teacher to pass my test. (Wow, I never knew my puppy dog eyes worked!) haha annnyyyywaaaayyyy**

**ENJOY THE CHAPTER!**

**(you can tell that I am excited for no reason at all...)**

Simone woke up with butterflies dancing like there was no tomorrow in her stomach. She looked out the window, it was still dark. She took her phone from under her pillow and looked at the time, frowning as a headache came on from the sudden light piercing her skull. 5:30. She was only leaving for the airport at eight.

Slowly she sat up and pulled the covers off of her, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She knew herself, once she woke up it was almost impossible for her to sleep again, so she stood up.

Once she stood up she was at a complete loss at what to do without waking the others. Slowly she sat back down on her bed and turned on the bedside lamp, scrunching her eyes shut at the sudden light, again. Ugh.

Yesterday was her mother's funeral. Well, not exactly funeral but a small burial ceremony in that little church on the corner her and her family always attended. It was the same little church her father's funeral was held in.

She had spoken to Aunt Virginia about the funeral, she didn't seem to mind. She also thought it was right that Elizabeth was buried next to her husband in the country she loved. As much as Aunt Virginia hated to admit it, South Africa was Elizabeth's home.

Aunt Virginia had agreed that the funeral and burial should take place in South Africa with all Elizabeth's South African family and friends, but there was going to be a second funeral in California for Elizabeth's American family and friends, and, of course, Grandma Potts.

Simone didn't mind. She didn't mind at all. She just didn't like the idea of having to cry all over again. Well, she cried all the time now anyway, and at least Tsholofelo will be there.

Simone spied a book next to her bed, _Trompie_. She chuckled, well, might as well pass the time. Grabbing the book and opening it at the last place she read, she lay back and relaxed until the rest of the house was up.

At about 6:30 her door creaked open, and Simone looked up from where she was reading, seeing Yoliswa tiptoe into her room.

"You awake?"

"You bet I am,"

Yoliswa smiled, and sat down on the bed next to Simone.

"I just want to let you know, your uncle Stark has sent one of his friends as well as his chaffeur to escort us to his plane. Your aunt tells me he did some research on Albert and discovered that he is a lot more dangerous and crazy than what we first thought. He is not taking any chances," She related.

Simone nodded, then smiled, "How is a friend and a chaffeur going to help us against a crazy and dangerous Albert?" she inquired.

Yoliswa sighed heavily, "Apparently, this chaffeur, Happy Hogan is his name, is also Stark's body guard, and is an ex-boxer. His friend, though a woman, is apparently a highly-trained assassin and is skilled in martial arts and can wield almost any weapon. According to your aunt she has an entire armoury hidden in every outfit,"

"Woa, Stark has some crazy people as friends,"

"That much is true, however, I suggest that you begin to get ready for the day. They will be arriving at eight o'clock and, according to your aunt, Stark's lady-friend is known for being punctual," With that, Yoliswa stood up and left the room, no doubt to wake Tsholofelo. Loud moans and protests confirmed her suspicions.

At 7:30 Simone was just about ready, and was helping Mr. Tshabalala pack her and Tsholofelo's bags in the car. They had arranged that she and Tsholofelo travel with the Tshabalalas to the airport for old times' sake while the Happy Hogan and Mr. Stark's mysterious friend escorted them for safety. Simone couldn't shake the feeling that Stark was being a little paranoid. After all, it wasn't like Albert had guts enough to come and attack them, did he?

Pushing these thoughts aside she decided to take the quick two-minute walk to her house and back, just to say goodbye. She had been there plenty of times in the past few days, deciding what to take along and what to store, but she never really had the chance to say goodbye to the place.

Walking in her old room she observed the empty bookshelf, the clear and now lifeless desk, the drawers long since emptied. Her bed was still in the room, but she had packed her bedding, just for sentimental reasons. Her guitars, electric as well as acoustic, and her violins were packed as well, she could not imagine life without her musical instruments.

After about twenty minutes of reminiscing and shedding a few silent tears, she decided that she should probably be heading back. Wiping the tears from her eyes, washing her face and whispering a few silent goodbyes, she began her walk back.

She was about a corner from Tsholofelo's house when she heard footsteps behind her. She walked faster. The footsteps got louder. She broke into a run without even looking to see who was following. Her entire conscience and body and brain screamed one word at her. _Run. _And run she did.

She ran for all she was worth, faster than she had run at athletics, faster than she had run when Kevin was chasing her with a spider. She ran. Fuelled by adrenalin and fear.

The footsteps caught up with her, and she felt a strong arm snake around her waist and fling her into a wall. Everything was slow-motion. Dazed, she looked at her attacker, her vision swimming into focus. Tall, dark brown hair, brown eyes and flat, unemotional face. Werner.

Werner. One of Oom Albert's drinking buddies. Very dangerous man. She stood up, losing her balance a little, and made to run away again. Werner was faster. Whipping a knife out of his pocket he pushed her against the wall, putting the knife to her throat. In the corner of her eye she saw a car slow to a stop and a red-haired woman jumping out.

Werner leaned in closer, pressing the knife harder to her throat, causing a drop of blood to trickle down her neck. Smiling evilly, he leaned in closer, his free hand reaching for her jeans...

It happened so fast. Simone was not able to register everything. Red exploded behind him and an arm snaked around Werner's neck. The next moment Simone was leaning against the wall clutching her throat, and Werner was flipped over on his back, being massacred by a slight, small, short, vicious red-haired lady.

She was not sure when, but Werner was lying on the floor, dead, and the red-head was walking over to her, concerned look on her face.

Simone instinctively coiled back, fear rising in her throat. But the red-haired woman put up her hand, and continued her advance.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I only hurt bad guys. It's okay,"

Simone relaxed a little, and let the red-haired woman examine her throat.

"Not too bad, just need to keep it clean. Nothing major was damaged,"

She sat down next to Simone and extended her hand, "Natasha Romanoff, what is your name?"

Simone took the Natasha's firm hand in her shaky one and shook it, before replying, "I am Simone van der Westhuisen. Thanks. A lot, though I do think you are pretty scary,"

Natasha looked shocked at the mention of her name, then quickly composed herself, chuckling, "I like honest people. But, I need you to be honest with me now, otherwise I cannot help you. Who was that man?"

Simone sighed, "One of my uncle's drinking buddies. He was a perv. I hated him,"

Natasha nodded, then asked, "Who is your uncle?"

"Albert van der Westhuisen,"

Natasha visibly stiffened, then relaxed, "I think I was supposed to be escorting you to the airport about two minutes ago. Let's head to your buddies' house and get that wound cleaned. Then we can set out,"

Simone's eyes went wide, "You are Stark's super-assassin friend?"

Natasha replied, "More like a colleague."

"What is he, some kind of secret agent or something?"

Natasha looked shocked at the question, furrowing her brow she answered, "Something like that. I think we should go, your friend will be very worried by now,"

Natasha stood, and helped Simone to her feet. Slowly they made it to the car. They drove the last corner to the house in silence.

Yoliswa was beside herself with worry. After thanking Natasha one thousand times over she immediately tended to Simone's wound. Simone flinching at the burning sensation of the antisepti

Natasha called Happy to inform him that they would be a little late.

**A/N: There you go! Hope you liked it! And, yes, never walk around alone in the streets of South Africa, because this kinda stuff happens, and Black Widow will not be there to help you.**

**On a happier note, though, my AMAZING mom bought me Iron Man 3! WOOOOHOOO!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am back! Sorry for taking so long, but school is terrible. But here is the next chapter! Enjoy!**

Pepper nervously typed away on her tablet, seated in her car with the door slightly ajar in the private airport's landing strip parking lot. This was actually previously a military base, but, Tony got a bee in his bonnet and bought it up for the Avengers. Now it was a super-private superhero base. S.H.I.E.L.D had issued the Avengers a few jets, and, along with some S.I. Planes, it was quite a well-stocked airport.

Previously, the Avengers had all stayed at Avengers Tower in New York, but, since Tony went back to Malibu and bought the base, they all moved there. In actuality, there were several 'Avengers HQ's' around the country, and, depending on missions and intergalactic activity, the Avengers moved from the one to the next, but Malibu HQ was the most frequently used.

The Avengers had gotten a little tired of living in each other's faces, and lots of tension combined with a lot of arguments, differing routines and superpowers did not mix very well. So, instead of living in the Malibu mansion together, (they have decided that occasionally staying in the tower together was more than enough) Tony built some sort of quaint village on the A.B.M HQ (Avengers Base, Malibu HQ)

It was a cute village, houses neatly lined up on one side of the street and a gym, ice rink, Shwarma joint (Tony's addition) and a park with a huge swimming pool on the other. Betty had finally tracked Bruce down and they were sharing a house, Natasha and Clint were living together as well as Thor and Jane. And Darcy, well, she found love. Steve did too. And it just happened to be each other.

Pepper was absolutely ecstatic when she first found out, she and Tony were on their honeymoon at the time, and she couldn't think of anything better to celebrate that night. Jane was partly relieved that Darcy would be out of her face for a while. Natasha was also pretty glad that Steve would not be staying alone.

Pepper and Tony had come back from their honeymoon, Fury granted the Avengers a few months of a 'leave of absence' where they were only on standby for absolutely dire situations. Pepper found out that she was pregnant, (Much to Betty's, Natasha's, Jane's and Darcy's absolute joy), Clint and Natasha got engaged, and then, her sister died. And now Simone was joining the Avengers family.

Pepper was informed of the 'incident' by Natasha, which only made her hate Albert more and love Natasha endlessly for being that crazy super-assassin that she is. Apparently Simone was perfectly fine, if not a bit shell-shocked, and she had a healing cut on her throat. Tony, who was called out with Clint to handle a dire situation in Brazil basically flipped out when he heard the news and it took Fury's glare, Clint's determination and a 'friendly' call from Natasha to get him to go on the mission. But, the thing that shocked Pepper the most is that Natasha told her that it seems that Simone knows nothing about Iron Man, or Tony Stark's connection to it. Natasha also stated that it was in her opinion Simone should rather find out for herself or be told by Pepper.

Tony was very sorry that he could not meet Simone at the airport, and Pepper thought that Tony's emergency mission would be a perfect opportunity to explain his alter ego to Simone.

The sound of an approaching aeroplane filled the air, and Pepper snapped out of her thoughts to observe the S.I. Jet touching down on the runway. The door opened, and Happy came out well-laden with bags. After him came an overly-excited african carrying a few bags herself, chattering away like there was no tomorrow. Then, out came Simone, followed by Natasha.

Pepper got out the car and started walking over, her heart beating at a thousand miles an hour. She smiled a little as she heard the strange one-sided conversation Simone's friend (Tsholofelo, wasn't it?) was keeping up. She stopped a few metres away.

"Simone,"

Simone looked up at Pepper's voice. Their eyes locked. Pepper could only stare at her niece. Seven years. Seven years since she had last seen her face to face. Seven years. Seven years too many. Tears welled up in Simone's eyes, and Pepper felt pressure building up in hers, too. She was beautiful. A spitting image of her sister, minus the ginger hair and green eyes. She still had those brilliant blue orbs, the blonde, bobbed hair and that taller-than-normal stature.

"Aunt Virginia," Simone croaked, and, dropping the bags she was carrying, she ran over to Pepper and swept her in a hug. For several minutes they just stood there, crying into each other's shoulders.

Pepper pulled out of the hug and looked at Simone, who was almost as tall as her, which was scary, because Pepper was wearing stilt-like heels and Simone was only in ballet flats.

"You've grown so much,"

"You've gotten so short,"

Pepper chuckled, this was the same niece she had last seen seven years ago, with all her cheeky, yet appropriate remarks. Simone was never known to disrespect someone.

Pepper looked at Simone's friend, who was standing surprisingly quietly to one side, a small smile on her face, her hands folded. Pepper extended her hand in greeting.

"You must be Tsholofelo, pleased to meet you," She stated. Grinning, Tsholofelo eagerly shook her hand.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Stark, however, I do wonder where your esteemed husband is, I would like too meet him as well,"

"Tsholofelo!" Simone scolded.

Pepper chuckled. She had expected this, and, as far as Simone had told her, Tsholofelo was one to make the occasional rude and insensitive remark.

"He is currently on a mission, I would have thought that Natasha had told you," Pepper calmly explained.

"Auntie, what is Mr. Stark? Is he a secret agent or something?" Simone asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Pepper smiled fondly at her niece, "Sort of, well, he is a self-proclaimed superhero,"

Simone's eyes widened, "A superhero? You mean, like, a person with super powers that saves the day? Like superman?"

Pepper chuckled, "I think his only super-power is his brain. Have you heard of the Avengers?"

"Yes, sort of. I know that they saved the world from some alien invasion. But I didn't really pay it any mind more than relief that the world is now safe,"

"Well, your uncle Tony is a member of the Avengers. He is Iron Man,"

Simone's eyes widened again and her face broke into a grin. Before she could answer Tsholofelo was already jumping up and down around them and dancing in circles.

"Oh. My. Word. Simone, your uncle is Iron Man! Think about that! That is sooooooooo awesome! Are you Black Widow? Wow, wow, wow, I have been sitting next to _Black Widow _for the past few hours and I did not even realise it! SIMONE! YOU ARE GOING TO BE LIVING WITH _SUPER HEROES_!"

Simone rolled her eyes, and Pepper chuckled. Obviously, Tsholofelo was the superhero geek and Simone just couldn't care less unless it affected her directly. Natasha just stood there, as stoic as ever, and Happy was watching the entire scene very wide-eyed, then decided to remove himself and he started carrying the bags to the car.

At length Tsholofelo started to calm down, then she decided that she wasn't finished with her performance and almost swept Simone off the ground in a bone-crushing hug.

Pepper smiled, "I do believe we should start heading toward the house, it is getting a bit late-"

"Natasha!" Pepper was cut off by a flash of blonde hair and muscly arms and the next moment Natasha was enveloped in a hug from her archer, being showered by kisses and 'I missed you's' all the while.

Simone giggled at the scene, and Tsholofelo just stared, gears clicking into place in her brain. Once Natasha pulled herself free from Clint's grasp, Tsholofelo just stood there, awestruck, then erupted.

"Oh my word! Oh my word! _Oh. My. Word_! It's Hawkye! Like, seriously, Hawkye! Tsholofelo Tshabalala, pleased to meet you, sir," Tsholofelo exclaimed excitedly, extending her hand in greeting.

Clint smiled and shook her hand, "Wow, a mouthful, isn't it? Clint Barton, pleased to meet you. You must be Simone's escort,"

Tsholofelo was hardly able to contain herself, she was grinning from ear to ear.

Pepper smiled, then gently pushed Simone forward, "Clint, this is Simone,"

Simone shyly extended her hand, and Clint shook it heartily, "Pleased to meet you,"

Pepper then suddenly had a thought. "Aren't you supposed to be in Brazil?" she questioned.

Clint shook his head, then showed off a newly formed bruise on his arm and a cut on his eyebrow, "Situation was handled rather quickly, a flash of red and gold and they were outta there. Tony should be here any minute, aaaaannd, speak of the devil," Clint stated as Tony was walking towards them.

As soon as Tony saw them, he broke into a smile and walked faster, after giving Pepper a hello hug and kiss, he turned to Simone.

"You must be Simone, I am Tony Stark, pleased to meet you," He stated charmingly, extending his hand in greeting. Rather shyly, Simone took it, a smile lighting up her nervous face as she did.

"Pleased to meet you too. Aunt Virginia told me a lot about you,"

Tony laughed, winking at Pepper, he replied, "Mostly good stories, I hope. She also told me quite a bit about you. You do have a love for Audi's, right?"

Simone broke into a smile, and Pepper sighed, relieved. It was a good start.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am back! Sorry for keeping you lot waiting for sooooo long! It was the end of term and, well, it is always hectic. Wow. I should really stop making excuses. But, anyway, it's Holiday and I am back! **

The house was amazing. Seriously. It was amazing. It was bigger than any house she had ever seen. It was even bigger than the houses in Kloof Street, Germiston or even Sandton. It was glorious, intimidating, and inviting all the same and she hadn't even entered yet.

Simone just stood for a few moments longer, awestruck at the spectacle before her. Happy had already taken the bags inside, and the moment Tsholofelo saw the place she just darted for the door, Tony in tow.

Pepper put a comforting hand on Simone's shoulder. "You alright?" She inquired.

Simone shook her thoughts away and then sighed, "Ja, I think so. It, its just so, so _big_. It's like it isn't even real."

Pepper nodded in understanding. "It was pretty scary my first time too,"

"Did you ever get used to it?"

"Nope. Not even after fourteen years. It doesn't seem so scary anymore, though," Pepper smiled, turning to her niece.

Simone smiled back, and then pulled her aunt into a hug, "Thank you. For everything. I really don't know what I would do without you,"

"It's a pleasure, sweetie. Come, you want to go inside?"

Simone looked towards the huge house, no, _mansion_, again. Contemplating her aunt's offer. She then nodded, "I guess so, I don't think that it would do any harm, would it?"

Pepper smiled and offered her niece her arm, "No, I don't think so,"

Simone smiled back, and, arm in arm, the duo marched purposefully through the front door.

Tsholofelo was observing the waterfall in awe, and Tony was explaining to her how it worked. Just then Simone's tekkies decided to squeak against the floor, causing them both to look up.

Tsholofelo then ran over to Simone, overly excited.

"Simi! Simi! Tjek that waterfall! It's made of glass! And then the water comes out on both sides and it doesn't even spill over! And the house is so big! And, and-"

Simone put her hands on her best friend's shoulders, "Yes, I know, it's cool. It's really big and scary, too. And you are staying here for two weeks, so absorb and proclaim it gradually and in a means that will not burst my eardrums,"

Tsholofelo chuckled and made an overly exaggerated pouty face.

Simone rolled her eyes, then cooed in a mocking tone, "If you are a good girl, I will let you skype Lesetja..."

Tsholofelo laughed and smacked Simone in the stomach, "Hey!"

"You know you want to,"

"Fine, you win. But, I have one condition," Tsholofelo stated.

Simone cocked her head, "And what would that be?"

Tsholofelo cracked a naughty grin, "You have to skype Reinhart-"

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Absolutely not."

"You know you will."

"No, I won't."

"Fine, then I will skype him myself and tell hi-"

"No!"

"So it's settled, then," Tsholofelo cooed, winking at Simone. Pepper was trying really hard not to laugh. Tony already failed miserably, and was chuckling and grinning like an idiot.

"I wanna meet this guy." Tony stated simply, mock menace slipping into his tone.

Simone rolled her eyes, "You are not my dad."

"I wish I were."

Pepper put a hand on Simone's shoulder. "Hey, I guess we should start getting settled in. Happy has already taken your things to your rooms. Tony, will you show Simone to her room?"

Tony nodded, and then motioned with his head for Simone to follow him. Simone trotted after to keep up with his long strides. Once she caught up with him, Tony smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Simone smiled and shook her head.

"Your aunt is a clever one, you know. She did this on purpose."

"I know she did. She wants you to be a good uncle and me to be a good little niece."

Tony grinned, "Spot on. You _are _a bright one. Your aunt was right. _Again._" Mock exasperation punctuated the last word.

Simone smiled and shook her head in amusement.

"You know, you aren't all that talkative."

Simone shook her head again, "Tsholofelo makes up for it."

Tony wrinkled his nose, "More than makes up for it. She is a good kid though,"

Simone smiled, "Ja, she got me through a lot."

Tony just nodded, and silence peacefully reigned in the passageways for the next few seconds. Simone put her arm around Tony's shoulders, thinking it was a bit lopsided if only one of them had an arm around the other's shoulders.

"I know this is...kind of...stupid to ask, but, do you guys have cars in South Africa or do you ride elephants and zebras to school?" Tony quickly asked. Simone had to really concentrate to hear him correctly.

Simone laughed out loud, "I wish! Yep, we do have cars in South Africa. Lots of them too."

"Audi's?"

"Oh, yes. Quite a bit in Vanderbijlpark, too."

"Porches? Mercedes?"

"Yes."

"So all the German supercars."

"Don't be mistaken, the Brits and the Italians are there too. There are quite a few Jags and Aston Martins and the occasional Lamborghini and Ferrari."

"What car did your mom drive?"

Simone felt her heart lurch and her eyes fill with tears at that question. Tony seemed to sense her discomfort.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay."

"It is?"

"Ja. It's okay. It's silly, anyway."

"No. It isn't. It was a stupid question, and I am sorry for bringing it up,"

"You're forgiven," Simone simply stated, smiling up at Tony.

Tony smiled back, and they completed the rest of the journey to the room in silence. Tony suddenly stopped.

"We're here." He stated simply, removing his arm from Simone's shoulders and turning the handle. Halfway through he stopped.

"I can't stand Mercedes Benz, or Bentley" He blurted out.

Simone looked at him in confusion.

"My...my parents were killed in a car crash. They were in a Bentley. A Benz crashed into them from the side. Mom and Dad were killed on impact. Jarvis died in the hospital a few days later. He was like a dad to me." Tony explained, his voice cracking slightly. His head turned away from her.

Simone put a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked down at her shoes. Biting her lip, she looked him in the eye.

"Tazz. She drove a white Toyota Tazz. We named it Milly," She whispered, her voice threatening to break.

Tony looked at her, and an emotion she could not read passed behind his dark irises. Slowly, he smiled at her.

"You want to see your new room?"

"Sure, why not?"

Tony turned the handle completely and flung the door open. Simone gasped. The room was bigger than half her house! It had an en-suite bathroom and a walk-in cupboard too. Her bags and musical instruments neatly lined the small platform on which her huge bed rested. There was a large, intimidating desk with at least a thousand drawers on the one side of the room and a music stand and bookshelf on the other. The walls were a light biscuit brown and the covers on the bed were a beige colour with chocolate brown leaf patterns all over it.

Over the bed's headboard an large, empty photo frame was stuck to the wall with a small bulletin board inside it. Posters of Audi R8's, Aston Martins, Land Rovers and Jeeps covered the wall all around the photo frame. That was most probably her aunt's doing. Simone felt warm tears of gratitude well up into her eyes. She turned around, Tony was looking at her expectantly, slight amusement pulling at his mouth.

"Thank you!" She choked out, and that was all that she could manage.


End file.
